Nominal fee likely for challenging TG EAPCET preliminary answer keys from now

The amount will be refunded if an expert committee constituted to look into the challenges' approve a student's objections. The move is aimed at curbing non-serious candidates registering a large number of objections on the preliminary answer key

Hyderabad: The entrance tests rules for admissions to various professional programmes offered by colleges in the State are likely to undergo changes.

Commencing this year, a nominal fee may be charged from candidates’ who challenge preliminary answer keys, particularly of the Telangana Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test (TG EAPCET). The fee could range from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per answer challenged.

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The fee on challenging the preliminary answer keys has been proposed during the Common Entrance Tests (CETs) committee meeting, which was conducted at Telangana Council of Higher Education, here on Tuesday. However, the entire fee amount will be refunded if an expert committee constituted to look into the challenges’ approve a student’s objections.

The move is aimed at curbing non-serious candidates registering a large number of objections on the preliminary answer key every year. For example, the TG EAPCET 2024 received a staggering 600 objections on the preliminary answer key. However, not even a single objection was found to be correct by the subject experts committee.

“A nominal refundable fee has been proposed to discourage non-serious students from challenging a large number of preliminary answer keys,” sources said.

Presently, this practice is being followed for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Examination (NEET) UG where a non-refundable processing fee of Rs 200 per answer challenge is charged.

Further, the POLYCET and TG EAPCET are likely to be conducted in the first and second weeks of May respectively. A schedule will be issued after the State government issues rules for determining local and non-local status of the applicants.